Friday, 17 December 2010

As British National Party MEP’s voted this week in the European Parliament, the BNP renewed its call for withdrawal from the European Union (EU) as more UK money is being used to fund poor, developing and third world countries whilst UK industry suffers terminal decline and massive redundancies.

The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) is an EU body which administers a budget of €500m and its purpose is to help people suffering from being made unemployed and help them to reintegrate into the labour market.

According to the EU, the EGF was “created in order to provide additional assistance to workers suffering from the consequences of major structural changes in world trade patterns.”

In other words, due to the failed policies of globalisation many European countries face massive outsourcing of European jobs to third world countries as European workers could not compete with the low wage standard in the third world.

Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Austria, and even the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) as recognised by the EU have all benefited from the EGF.

Recently, EU MEP’s voted on The Banana Accompanying Measures (BAM) in a motion whereby it was proposed that European and inevitably UK money will be used to prop up third world economies by investing €200 million to 10 third world ACP countries for four years.

In contrast, Britain has not received one penny from the EGF, though substantial portions of the EGF is funded from British taxpayers’ money.

As of this week, MEP’s, including our own BNP MEP’s voted on the following proposals to help other states who are suffering from redundancies forced by the failings of globalisation.

These include:

• Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund: redundancies in ICT wholesale trade in the Netherlands

• Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund: redundancies in diesel engine manufacturing in Poland

• Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund: redundancies in the automotive sector in Spain

• Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund: redundancies in the automotive industry in Poland

• Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund: redundancies in retail trade in Spain

• Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund: redundancies in the textile sector in Spain

• Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund: redundancies in the manufacture of natural stone products in Spain

If passed, these states will all benefit from financial help.

Britain is also facing a massive decline in industry and has suffered a high number of redundancies. The BNP believes that British taxpayers’ money should be used to help alleviate the hardships our own industries instead of being used to help others.

As an example:

• The UK wholesale energy industry is facing criticism of its pricing policies. Three companies – British Gas, ScottishPower and Scottish & Southern have all increased prices, hitting our elderly at a time we are facing one of the harshest winters in decades. We believe that any portion of UK money currently sat in EU coffers should be reinvested back into helping our own wholesale trade industry, perhaps the energy industry in particular in order to lower energy prices.

• Manufacturing industry. Considering the recent depreciation of sterling, which helps to promote UK exports, we feel it would be wiser to reinvest UK funds back into the UK manufacturing industry. According to Confederation of British Industry (CBI) monthly Industrial Trends survey for December, a balance of 4 per cent more employers reported export orders being above normal rather than below it. With sterling currently weakening, we should reinvest UK funds currently sat in EU coffers back into our recovering export manufacturing industry.

• Automotive industry. In 2008 the automotive manufacturing sector employed more than 163,000 people but two years later it was down to 116,000 - that's a 28 per cent cut according Prof. Garel Rhys, chairman of Welsh Automotive Forum. We believe that UK funds should be reinvested back into the UK automotive industry.

• Retail trade industry. According to a recent report by The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) the recession has claimed over 6,000 insolvencies in the UK. We recommend that any UK portion of EU funds should be reinvested into helping those affected by insolvency.

• Textile industry. According to Co-operatives UK, a national trade body, textile jobs in Britain are lost at rate of one per hour. We say invest our portion of UK money residing in the EU back into helping our own textile industry

Naturally, none of these UK industries will receive any help whatsoever from the EGF.

It is important to make the point that the BNP does not oppose help being given to fellow Europeans hit by the failed policies of economic globalisation and the inevitable outsourcing of jobs to the third world, we only oppose UK taxpayers’ money being used for any other use than its reinvestment back into Britain.

The BNP believes that Britain should withdraw completely from the EU to ensure that all British taxpayers’ money is used solely for the benefit of British interests.